Maple Leafs fans irate with Joseph Woll as goalie exits game with injury: "Is this guy made out of paper mache?"

The Toronto Maple Leafs closed out their six-game road trip in dominant fashion Thursday night rolling to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. However, the game saw yet another injury to goaltender Joseph Woll.

Woll, who stopped 22 shots through two periods and looked sharp throughout the night, did not return for the third period. The team later announced he left with a lower-body injury. There was no clear incident on the ice that led to the exit though cameras showed the 27-year-old shaking out his right leg before leaving the bench.

Leafs PR

@LeafsPR

Maple Leafs G Joseph Woll will not return to tonight’s game (lower body).

Within minutes of the update, social platforms filled with Leafs fans expressing anger and disbelief. Many pointed to Woll's inability to stay consistently healthy. Following are some fan reactions from X:

“Is this guy made out of paper mache?”

Jack of All Sports

@jackallsports

@LeafsPR Is this guy made of paper mache

“And just like that, the vibes are dead and buried,” wrote another user.

“The question with Woll is never talent. The kid can’t play 10 games and he’s hurt. Every. Single. Time. So damn frustrating.”

Roberts&Tucks

@ldl716

@LeafsPR The question with Woll is never talent. The kid can’t play 10 games and he’s hurt. Every. Single. Time. So damn frustrating.

Others took aim at the team’s instability in goal:

“The best ability for goalies is availability and the two guys we have signed are dismal in that category.”

Chamber of 32 Doors

@Chamber32Doors

@LeafsPR The best ability for goalies is availability and the two guys we have signed are dismal in that category.

Some fans pushed back at arguments blaming the Leafs’ training or medical staff:

“How are y’all blaming coaches and medical staff lol. Nothing they can do about a player who can’t stay on the ice to save his life. I’ve never seen a player so injury prone.”

ProToronto

@Mosboss27

@LeafsPR How are ya’ll blaming coaches and medical staff lol Nothing they can do about a player who can’t stay on the ice to save his life I’ve never seen a player so injury prone

And one comment echoed the long-term fears the organization now faces:

“If he can’t play a few weeks in a row without going down, how is he ever expected to hold it down for multiple playoff rounds? He’s got all the talent in the world but he’s made out of glass.”

Bobby McMann scored early on the night and added an empty-netter late. Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Scott Laughton also found the back of the net, while Dennis Hildeby who replaced Woll, stopped all nine shots he faced in the final period.

The Hurricanes managed just one goal, which was a late first-period marker by Seth Jarvis. With the win, the Leafs capped their road swing with three straight victories and some much-needed momentum heading home.

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Craig Berube’s update labels extent of Joseph Woll’s injury ‘unknown’

After the game, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox highlighted just how murky that Leafs head coach Craig Berube said the severity of Joseph Woll’s injury is still unknown. Fox aldo noted that Anthony Stolarz hasn’t skated once since he went down on Nov. 11.

luke fox

@lukefoxjukebox

Severity of Joseph Woll’s injury unknown, per Berube. Anthony Stolarz has still not skated since Nov. 11.

What was supposed to be a short-term, upper-body issue for Stolarz has quietly stretched into a month-long absence with Berube previously admitting it’s “worse than we thought.”

Anthony Stolarz was injured during the Nov. 11 game against the Boston Bruins, where he left after the first period with what the team called an upper-body injury suffered in a net-front battle.